Conor, having served as a Trustee at a different animal sanctuary, became acutely aware of the un-balanced power dynamics that plagued the organisation. Driven by his strong moral compass, he made the difficult decision to step down. 

While it saddened him to leave behind his cherished work and the heartwarming bond he had formed with a beloved little Shetland, Conor resolved to establish his own sanctuary. Drawing from the lessons he had learned from the mistakes witnessed at the previous sanctuary, he was determined to protect Comraich from falling into the same pitfalls. 

As the picture shows, the process we went through to become officially registered was characterized by a blend of complete confusion and an overwhelming amount of paperwork. 

During this journey, we encountered numerous unfamiliar systems and legislation that we had to learn, and MANY back and forths with our registering body, OSCR, before we finally got it all right and they gave us our own little number!!

I don't want to honey coat it, we scrambled a lot our first year. We thought we were ready, but that was before we were introduced to the world of Planning Permission...

And not to mention that we had to pull away from the first piece of land we had been preparing ALL of our projects and paperwork around just a month after we became registered. 

It was a big hit for us, and it took us months, but it gave us the opportunity to buy the 58 acres we now have in East Ayrshire, and we couldn't be happier with it. We look forward to seeing what we can do here.